capital punishment

American  

[kap-i-tl puhn-ish-muhnt] / ˈkæp ɪ tl ˈpʌn ɪʃ mənt /

noun

1. punishment by death for a crime; death penalty.

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capital punishment British  

noun

1. the punishment of death for a crime; death penalty

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capital punishment ¹ Cultural  

1. The death penalty for a crime.

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capital punishment ² Cultural  

1. The infliction of the death penalty as punishment for certain crimes. (See capital offense.)

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In the United States, capital punishment has been an extremely controversial issue on legal, moral, and ethical grounds. In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not, in principle, cruel and unusual punishment (and not, therefore, unconstitutional), but that its implementation through existing state laws was unconstitutional. In 1976, the Supreme Court again ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional, though a mandatory death penalty for any crime was. Thirty-nine states now practice the death penalty.

Etymology

Origin of capital punishment

First recorded in 1575–85

Example Sentences

The Justice Department also reauthorized single-drug lethal injections in an effort to expedite capital punishment cases.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Nowhere has this been more clearly on display than in the world of capital punishment.

From Slate • Mar. 27, 2026

South Korea has an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment -- the last prisoners were executed in 1997 -- with a death sentence effectively banishing Yoon to life behind bars.

From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026

After many countries around the world abolished capital punishment, Israel is taking steps in the opposite direction.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026

Supreme Court had grown impatient with challenges to capital punishment.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson